This ends Smith’s at times tumultuous nine-year tenure with his hometown Atlanta Hawks, the team that selected him with the 17th pick in the 2004 Draft. It also ends the pursuit of the versatile forward by both the Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks, who were both still trying to figure out ways to present possible sign-and-trade deals to the Hawks that would land Smith.

Smith’s childhood friend and fellow free agent prize Dwight Howard picked the Rockets Friday night. It was widely known that the Rockets were trying to pair the former AAU teammates, both 27, as professionals in a dynamic frontcourt package with All-Star James Harden and point guard Jeremy Lin in the backcourt.

Ultimately, the opportunity to play for an organization, general manager (Joe Dumars) and coach (Mo Cheeks) who believe that Smith can be a game changer in a promising frontcourt group that includes Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond won Smith over, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The Pistons were the first team to meet with Smith when free agency began at 12:01 a.m. on July 1. He’ll play both forward spots for the Pistons and brings career averages of 15.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 steals.

Smith inspired a love-hate relationship with the hometown fans, they loved him when he was at his best and extremely tough on him when his shot selection wavered or he had dust-ups with his coaches. The Hawks replaced Smith Friday night by adding former Utah power forward Paul Millsap on a two-year, $19 million deal.

130 Comments

This move surprises me because I would expect Josh Smith to go to a bigger market or a contender. But its great for the Pistons. They now have a young core with Knight, Smith and Monroe. Knight is a great point guard who has yet to make his mark in the NBA. Now that he has a running mate in Josh Smith he can really strive. Josh Smith rarely plays down low, so that will create space for Greg Monroe. Andre Drummond will have to come off the bench, but he will get the playing time if he improves. The only thing that would make them better is if they got a Small Forward. They started Kyle Singler last year. They need a guy that can fill in the position well. Singler is like Mike Dunleavy, a great shooter who has no other alias. There are not many options available for them. But potential candidates are: Lamar Odom, Mikael Pietrus, Hedo Turkoglu (if he completes buyout with Magic), Ronnie Brewer, and Nick Young.

The Pistons could use a scoring pointguard with all their bigs. Monta is available and could easily get you points in bunches, they also need a shooting guard to catch and shoot. I would try luring Ben Gordon back, and for rugged toughness… Pistons, go get you some MWP!

you people are crazy to think josh smith cant help the pistons crazy frontcourt lineup decent backcourt hopefully b. knight can recover. decent bench add 2 shooters+ another bigman = 4th seed all you small market team haters will eat your words in 3 years when they’ll b playin the cavs in the ecf again

Smith is talented but he’s a head case. See what happens when he doesn’t like the call. I’ll bet he’s still in the offensive zone crying instead of getting back on defense. Talent is 1 thing but he just doesn’t have it upstairs. Enjoy your 56 million $ head case. He could not have gone to a more deserving city. He’ll fit right in.

Seems like a lot of fans only want to see a few teams make the playoffs. the NBA is bigger than Boston, LA, New, Houston,Chicago. When a player with the talents of J. Smooth decides to go some where else fans stop looking at the stats he’s still one of most talented players in the league an that won’t change. Detroit on paper is now a respectable team. Now on to Trey Burke he is not the second coming of Chris Paul he will be a good player. If Detroit would have pick him there would have been a lot more pressure to perform on him then he needs as a young point guard, the same fans that are giving him so much praise now would have been ready to tear him down if he had failed to meet their expectations

So because he didnt go to a large market team he is just chasing money? not everyone is a fan of the large market bandwagon riding teams. the reason he NBA has been garbage for so long is because everyone keeps trying to jump to one team. The NBA needs goos players all over the league to keep fans interested and and the edge of the seats. Why does everyone love the NFL? bc every team has a chance to win unlike the NBA. Moves like this will make the NBA a better watch. Coming from an ATL fan

Hmmm, i don’t know.
I’m still confuse if Josh is a 3 or a 4.
His body right now is build for a 4 but he plays a 3 so that would be interesting for coach Mo.
He can start Monroe as the 4,drummond as 5 and Josh as 3.
or monroe as 5, Josh as 4 and Drummond will be a wildcard in front.
Because it will be better if monroe and Josh will start at 5 and 4 for transsition and rotation purposes.
Josh can still intimidate the rim and monroe will help him more offensively.
But if the 3 of them will start then their defense will be “great’ (can’t explain how their defense will be more locked up).
And it has to start on their point guard to communicate these three defensively,how to traffic their opponent.
it will improve The Detroit Pistons.

I can’t believe people think they have in this current squad what they had in the ’04 Pistons. You don’t have a rebounding machine like Big Ben, you don’t have one of the better PF in the league (at that time he was top 5) by any means (Josh is a SF, get it right) you don’t have a really sneaky and really reliable scorer like Rip was, and you sure don’t have a man with a great basketball IQ and who was also a straight up killer (on the court). You don’t even have a run you down defender like Prince was…

Jsmith nice but atl fans should be applauded for their rips being he was there for nine/ten years as their star and didnt average more than 15 and 8. Any versatile 6-10 cat should post a double double every night. Toni Kukoc had them numbers for chicago off the bench. Remember. Git lost jsmith. Sorry.

i dont think theyre haters. just insinuating hes money chasing instead of going to team in contention for a championship. but nothing wrong with chasing that paper. the talent has possesses is worth that big contract

Now, due to Collective Bargaining Agreement with players union, teams must spend! A couple more low to mid level free agent and or trade moves and this Pistons team is for real. Remember, Joe D brought B Wall for an injured Grant Hill, who never lived up to his contract in Orlando because of ankle rehab. Dumars also acquired Rip Hamilton, Billups and Sheed with shrewd deals. I still think Joe was channeling Trader Jack(ask your daddy). Pistons have one year to figure out if BKnight is PG of the future and GMonroe can be a legitimate PF. Then, next year Pistons shed Stuckey and Charlie V’s contracts for about 16.5 million more in cap space and free agency looks pretty good, considering next years crop of talent.

Very bad move for Josh.. I was kinda thinking of him moving to LA!! Yeah, with Ellis maybe.. 9 years and counting.. He should have moved to a title contender team.. Mavs is ok.. Anyways.. Keep supporting LA… LA Legion, let us unite.. GO LAKERS!!

Pistons are on the right trackt. Lets get a trade for Eric Gordon or Rojon Rondo and then bring back Mr. Big Shot for some veteran leadership. Also go after Ellis or Danny Grainger to add experience and depth at the two spot. If Joe D make these moves..SKY THE LIMIT FOR THE DETROIT PISTONS…LOOK OUT!!!!!

Danny Granger don’t play the 2 spot and Monta Ellis is straight poison. But then again so is J Smoove if he can’t clean up his terrible shot selection. At least Josh can play solid D. Don’t talk to me bout no Monta Ellis though.

People need to stop mentioning Trey Burke like he’s a young AI… Dude is decent but not the answer. Josh Smith is a great pickup leaving about 8 mil left to spend and chance for a trade still pending. Now add some shooters and we have a playoff team.

All of you who say hes just doing this for the money dont know anything about the Pistons they werent the worst team in the NBA last year if you knew anything about the NBA you would know they werent tip 5 worst teams either they are a young and talented team with a future allstar in Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond who if never got injured would have been the second best rookie last year and Brandon Knight and KCP who will be able to spread the floor next year for Detroit The Pistons will make the playoffs next year and in a couple years will be competing for a championship just wait and watch

Good pick up Pistons. We still need alot more help. I wish we would’ve picked Trey Burke but oh well. Joe D has a bad reputation when it come to picking draft picks (Dirko over wade, Carmelo, Bosh).. i hope this pick isnt like that was.. TreyBurke is going to be great.. To put it all in a nutshell Josh is good but we still need to make some more big moves to be competitive..

i think what Detroit pistons want in josh smith is his defensive abilities that could lead to help them win games and that’s the reason they win a championship in 04 i think they want to bring back the days where they are a great defensive team

Josh end his career in Detroit with no rings, he’s just a highlight player with some dunks that’s it!He has bad shot selection’s and he’s a 50% free throw shooter that’s not enuf with a scrub team like the Pistons.No problem for me when the Pistons throwing they’re money away and at the end of his pad he’s still a rich guy without a ring!A rich streetball player in fact!!!

Terrible move by the Pistons, this just proves Dumars has no idea what he’s doing. Unless he trades Monroe or Drummond, the floor spacing is going to be terrible, especially with Josh Smith’s love of taking perimeter jumpers despite his inability to hit them. Instead of getting a competent 3pt shooter to space the floor for Monroe and Drummond, Dumars went and signed another frontcourt player who can’t shoot. Good one Pistons.

People are so funny. If Josh Smith had went to Dallas or Houston then everyone would have praised Him for it but with Detroit its your usual critics, I remember they said Detroit Pistons didn’t have a chance to land a quality free agent. All of the 04 Pistons didn’t become good according to the critics, we couldn’t win with out a star now its Smith want fit. Lets go Pistons!!We have a great young core with a great upside, Knight/Pope/Smith/Monroe/Drummond. We not as weak as some people claim, Defense wins championships, You want to win then build a team that can clog up the middle and play defense.

If J.Smooth would have joined a contender for a smaller paycheck it would have been very noble of him. BUT he decided to get a mega paycheck. I’m all about putting your family first and getting what you think you are worth. Thats a business decision for sure. Championships are hard to come by no matter who you sign with unless it’s the Heat.

WOW Josh, Go ahead, put up big numbers on a bum team. Yeah, please don’t go to a team that’s gonna go deep in the playoffs bc then you know you will be benchewd for jacking outrageous 3’s like ur ray allen or something. Its ashame one of my fav players will never be a WINNER!!!! I mean NEVER!!! Wow thanks for letting one of your most supporting fans down. I No longer got your back on forums and comment boards when ppl put you down. Yeah u will help me in fantasy leagues but that’s all and that’s not good enough. No longer a fan of this greedy, money-hungry bum who is too scared to play for a team with a fighting chance to win a ship bc he might mess up when it truly matters and he won’t be the #1 option.

Josh is one of my favorite players, from those days when him and rondo was killing it at oak hill. But, that was a dumb decision that he made going to the pistons. Lets be real here they got greg monroe, and just drafted a good pick in drummond then they got jonas, charlie, and maxiel , there is just not enough space. I though he would of stayed home, or team up with his boy howard down in houston.

Everyone is acting like Detroit is saved. No team can be dominant with Josh Smith as your BEST player, he simply just isn’t consistent enough. This team will have trouble fighting for the playoffs with teams like Toronto, Cleveland, and Washington finally ready to compete.

Perosnally, Detroit is going nowhere fast, and his supporting cast players have not made a real impact in the B rated at best nba team. Josh should have went to Houston, the Lakers or his agent should of tried to create a deal with the Bulls which would have allowd him to at least have a chance for a run at a championship! Thanks

Josh smith cares only about the money it seems, cause he aint going nowhere with that pistons team lol, at least atlanta was making the playoffs, Detroit is weak got no scorers Smith aint gunna help much.

Well, josh joining pistons aint bad but the roster needs a lil more tweaking…if they can fill the roster with some veteran center for back up and some veteran shooters that plays 2 and 1 at the same time then all will be good and we could say by then that detrioit is really a contender. But not unless they pull some extra moves then detrioit is like just a the worse team that became a lil bit better..or they could be the worse team that turned into the mean team.

This puzzles me so so much… Why not head to Houston, Dallas, hell even to the annoying Fakers?! When I heard a rumor about Josh going to the Pistons I thought “why would he go there!? that’s a stupid rumor” The Atlanta Hawks this year keeping the team intact could’ve gotten past the first round of the playoffs. But he’s going to leave that for a team that COULD possibly get the 7th seed with him? Man, I wanted Josh to go just so he could have a better future and possibly get a ring with Dwight or Nwoitzki but you’re going to leave us for…. who? I don’t even know a Piston player, Jason Stuckey?

Detroit is well on it’s way to getting back to where it’s been before and that’s to a championship caliber Team. Joe played on a Team that played in 3 straight Finals, winning 2 and built a squad out what others said weren’t championship caliber guys and won a Title and won consistently. So with that being said, stay tuned to the next episode of the Pistons Bad Boy 3.

All I have to say is good riddance. As a die-hard Atlanta Hawks fan, I am loving to see him leave. I was at game 6 against the Pacers this year and all he did was take lousy jumper after lousy jumper. It was a pitiful and stupid disgrace of a game. I hate Josh Smith. Good riddance.

The lakers could have used u Smith along with Ellis. That would b a championship team. Still don’t c anyone beating the heat. Just would like to c kobe n Lebron battle n the finals like Jordan and magic once did. With that said good luck Smith. I’m sure they gonna build around and bring the bad boys back

I agree. This is the dumbest mistake Josh Smith has ever made. Shows how silly these players can be. If he thinks he can get a championship with The Pistons then he is only fooling himself. Teams like The Pacers, The Heat, The Nets and etc. will wipe the floor with The Pistons. Hell they didn’t even make the Playoffs this season.

Its not about the individual player, its how that player fits on the team. Detroit paid Ben Wallace big bucks…but he rarely even scored the ball! lol! If they are right about how Josh Smith, his athleticism and determination to win will rub off well on those young, athletic bigs they already have. This is probably one of the smartest moves they’ve made since obtaining Rasheed Wallace in the 2003-2004 season.

i guess its all about the money and not about the rings, leave a city like atlanta for detroit? im convinced most of these players have stupid people part of their entourage. oh well, some players deserve to stay in the L column all their career

Two frontcourt players like a double-double machine in Greg Monroe and a promising, high-rising, athletic, second year center in Andre Drummond? Detroit is the clear choice hear. Besides, Atlanta chose his replacement as quickly as he signed with the Pistons. If you noticed, Joe Johnson plays in Brooklyn now. Why would he stay in Atlanta anymore, there’s nothing left for him there. He jumped off a stagnant club for a young talented team in need of a star that he can lead into the Playoffs. Be realistic bud.

Simmer down champ…..only one team can win each year….and since none of the championship teams made him offer go to the highest bidder especially one with a bright future and new coach looking to take steps in a winning direction. On top of that he is not marketable on a national yet alone international scale so his contract is probably will be his only source of generated income aside from a few endorsements. So SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!!!

Aaaaawwweeee! (Wah-wah-wah!) Somebody is all hurt because J-Smooth choose Detroit. $56,000,000 was what Detroit invested because they saw the value of that young man and how he can fit into the rebuilding process of a team that has actually WON a champitionship in the last decade. What has ATL ever done? Have they EVER won a ring? Nope. Has ATL ever even been in the FINALS??? Again…the answer is no. So if history repeats itself, Detroit has a better chance of winning another title in the next decade verses an ATL team whose only bright spot is the amazing dunks of Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb. Detroit has a lot of promising talent, and the addition of Josh Smith just made them a squad that can close games. Last season, they lost many of their games in the final 2 mins…and by a very small margin. Cheer up holyspectator. Its ok if you want to secretly root for Detroit now. Motown has produced more music hits than ATL as well as NBA championship rings. lol!

good for josh he wants to be the star on a team not 1 of three stars in houston. plus theres something to build on with that young group. They will get shooters if they need to and when they do we should all be quite scared

This “stupid” professional will get 56 MILLION to get out of a bad situation. Detroit has no where to go but up during his contact years and with him being the veteran on a team with a new coach it’s possible to attract other players.

Wow that frontcourt is young and scary, and they have a young 1 who may be able to deliver them the ball where they want it in Knight. Might Detroit battle for playoff relevancy once again? I see Boston and Milwaukee likely to fall out…Detroit, Washington, Toronto and Cleveland battling it out for those 2 spots?

yeah…scary lineup indeed for detroit…they should try to get Greivis Vasquez on their team…that would be really really scary…east looks good! lol…Miami will have a hard time going back to the finals lol